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Myxomatosis: the introduction of the European rabbit flea Spilopsyllus cuniculi (Dale) into wild rabbit populations in Australia

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 May 2009

W. R. Sobey  and
Dorothy Conolly
W. R. Sobey
Affiliation:
C.S.I.R.O., Division of Animal Genetics, P.O. Box 90, Epping, N.S.W., 2121, Australia
Dorothy Conolly
Affiliation:
C.S.I.R.O., Division of Animal Genetics, P.O. Box 90, Epping, N.S.W., 2121, Australia
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Summary

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1. The European rabbit flea Spilopsyllus cuniculi (Dale) bred successfully in wild rabbits on three properties in New South Wales and, within two breeding seasons, almost every rabbit shot within a quarter of a mile of a release site was infested.

2. It was demonstrated that the flea transmitted myxoma virus in the field.

3. In areas where more than 75 % of the rabbits shot at the beginning of the breeding season were flea-infested and myxoma virus was present, populations failed to show the expected summer build-up.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Hygiene , Volume 69 , Issue 3 , September 1971 , pp. 331 - 346
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1971

References

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